MAKE A DIFFERENCE DAY IN VANCOUVER

Outreach Specialist Robin Alley with the Clark County Altrusa International Foundation

Saturday October 22 was Make a Difference Day and the Clark County Altrusa International Foundation chose to support Yellow Brick Road of Washington's mission to “make a difference” in the lives of homeless youth in Vancouver, Washington! Altrusa International is dedicated to improving economic well-being and quality of life through a commitment to community services and literacy. Our local chapter contacted YBR–Washington to get a "wish list" of items needed for the homeless youth we serve throughout the community and at our daytime drop-in center, The Perch. The project was assisted with generous donations from several Vancouver Fred Meyer stores as well as students and instructors at the Vancouver Jazzercise Fitness Center. Last week Altrusa members delivered 30 handmade and individually packed gift bags, each containing Skull Candy earphones, an aluminum water bottle, socks, playing cards, a crossword or sudoku book, a flashlight and a variety of snacks. Staff at The Perch began distributing the bags almost immediately and they have been a big hit among our youth! The supply drive also generated much needed essentials for our drop-in center such as new dishes and cookware. Thank you to Altrusa, Fred Meyer and the Vancouver Jazzercise Fitness Center. You all have truly made a difference in the lives of homeless youth in Vancouver!

GIRLS ARE NOT FOR SALE!

A federal judge sentenced 23 year old Portland pimp Jefferson B. Davis to 20 years in prison this week for his role in forcing a 13 year old runaway from Salem, Oregon into commercial sexual exploitation. Hopefully this is just the first step towards protecting Oregon children from sex trafficking. The sentence sends a clear message to predators, both sellers and consumers, that GIRLS ARE NOT FOR SALE! Read more here.

CITY BIBLE CHURCH

Today we would like to send a simple heartfelt THANK YOU to our supporters at CITY BIBLE CHURCH who kindly prepared hundreds of hygiene kits to be distributed by Yellow Brick Road to young people in need on the streets of Portland. Here's Outreach Specialists Neal and Tiffany delivering the goods to "Bricks" and "Bobby". Thank you for supporting Janus Youth Programs and Yellow Brick Road!

Students on the Streets

YBR volunteers Sal and Sara with intern Dean, outreaching at R2D2.

GIRLS ARE NOT FOR SALE!

Three young girls who were being advertised for sex on Backpage.com, have been rescued by police. Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn, along with six other Washington mayors, Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna, and fifty other attorney's general have joined forces to combat the advertising that the Seattle Police Department has identified as an accelerant for the sexual exploitation of children. After Backpage indicated to the attorney's general on Sept. 27 that it would not be changing existing policies, McGinn released information on three women recently recovered from SeaTac.

"In light of Backpage.com's response to the 51 attorneys general, I'd like to update you on our efforts to rescue children from being sexually exploited on Backpage.com," said Mayor Mike McGinn. "On Thursday September 22, while Backpage.com was drafting its lengthy rationalization of their practices, our High Risk Victims Unit participated in a task force operation in SeaTac. We recovered three female children who were being advertised for sex on Backpage.com." McGinn says protecting exploited children is a top priority for the Seattle Police Department, but continues, "we can never get ahead of this crime while a company like Backpage.com profits from the sexual exploitation of children and uses their newsrooms to minimize the extent of the issue."

The company has said it would work with police to crack down on predators, but claims shutting down the site would be a violation of the First Amendment.